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 ALL THE
LEADER
YOU CAN BE
This page intentionally left blank
 ALL THE
LEADER
YOU CAN BE

THE SCIENCE OF
ACHIEVING EXTRAORDINARY
EXECUTIVE PRESENCE

Suzanne Bates

New York Chicago San Francisco Athens London Madrid

Mexico City Milan New Delhi Singapore Sydney Toronto
opyright © 2016 by Bates Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the Unite
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To “the people,” Drew and Meghan
—Suzanne Bates
This page intentionally left blank
 Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction xi

Pa r t 1

What It I s
Chapter 1 Breakthrough 3

A Research-Based Model of Executive Presence

Chapter 2 Character 21

The Fundamentals That Build Trust and Goodwill

Chapter 3 Substance 39

Qualities That Inspire Others to Go Above and Beyond

Chapter 4 Style 59

The Secret to Getting Others to Get Things Done

Pa r t 2

Why It Mat ters

Chapter 5 Starting a New Role 85

Executive Presence and Early Wins

Chapter 6 Moving Ahead 103

Executive Presence When Facing New Challenges

Chapter 7 Building Teams 121

Executive Presence in Dynamic Interaction

vii
viii C on t e n t s

C HAPTER 8 Leading Change 137

Executive Presence in Driving Results

Pa r t 3

How to Ge t T here
Chapter 9 Executive Presence for Senior Leaders 157

The View at (and of ) the Top

Chapter 10 Executive Presence for High Potentials 173

The Next Generation

Chapter 11 Executive Presence for Women 193

So Much for Conventional Wisdom

Chapter 12 Executive Presence and Diversity 219

It’s a Global World

Final Thoughts 247

How Executive Presence Answers Tomorrow’s

Business Challenges

Notes 259

Index 267
 Acknowledgments

T o name all the professional colleagues, mostly manage-

ment psychologists, who offered assistance, insights, and
suggestions during the research and development stage of the Bates ExPI
Model and instrument would make for a very long list indeed. However, we
would like to identify the independent contributions of those who played
key roles in the creation of the ExPI. First, management psychologist Bill
Macaux contributed substantially to building the original model and assess-
ment. Several others functioned as expert raters when it came time to ensure
the content validity of the constructs in the model, and especially to help us
winnow down a very large pool of items to the “best items.” They include
Gerard Beziat, Elizabeth Gibson, Al Parchem, Michael Seitchik, Rebecca
Schalm, Peter Spanberger, Mazy Gillis, and Heracli Tzafestas. This interna-
tional group of experts all contributed independently based upon extensive
global experience (15 to 30+ years of experience) working with executive-
level leaders. We firmly believe that their involvement was a critical factor
in enabling us to achieve such strong validation results in our pilot study of
the Bates ExPI Model.
We also wish to thank the hundreds of leaders as well as their peers, col-
leagues, and supervisors who participated in the pilot study and early evalu-
ation of the Bates ExPI, too many to name here. In particular, we do wish
to name those who made significant contributions to our early-stage work,
including helping us understand how to operationalize the model and
assessment in coaching, leadership team work, diversity and inclusion, and
high-potential programs. They include Martha May, Jacy Haefke, Michael
Stutzman, Anita Flagg, Terry Arnold, Bill Hodgetts, Tim Hebert, Judy
Davis, Ann Piepkorn, Diane Pettet, Twanya Hill-Hood, Tom Newhouse,
Denise Hughes, Jill Altana, Bridget Penney, Susan Glynn, Louise Korver,
Dave Ramsden, Christine Moscaritola, Hariraj Vijayakumar, Melissa Roy,

ix
x Acknowledgments

Lisa Yarussi, Linda Grace, Caroline Carmichael, Kathy Horgan, Janice

Coco, Linda Arsenault, Samantha Fullmer, Cathy Manginelli, Suzanne
Ritchie, Chris Pollino, Melissa Carter, Beth Carlson, Halvor Holter, and
Line Holter. We also recognize early-adopter organizations that piloted
various early projects and advanced our appreciation for how the model
applies to driving individual and organizational success: Rockwell Collins,
Ameriprise Financial, ATK, ADP, Arbella, AT&T, Atrion, Au Bon Pain,
BCBS-SC, Cognizant, EMC, Comcast, Raytheon, TD Ameritrade,
Tiffany, Fidelity, NFPA, State Street, Sunovion, Swiss Re, Intel, Genentech,
Boeing, Petronas, Merck, AIG, and Dow.
Finally we recognize the members of our Bates community who have
contributed to deploying the Bates ExPI Model assessment, both help-
ing us to bring a fresh approach to working with practicing leaders and
helping to publicize our work. They include Ken Lizotte, Elena Petricone,
Donya Dickerson, Dave Casullo, Scott Weighart, Angela Richards,
Meredith Courtney, Meghan McGrath, Sarah Woods, Craig Bentley, Karen
Marinella, Margery Myers, Elizabeth Freedman, Bill Horst, Mary Beth
Hardy, Walter Jackson, Rachel Suchoff, Melissa Kaes, Amanda Husson,
Dan Mausolf, Mary Lou Andre, Betsy Komjathy, Jacqueline Brodnitzki,
Paul Connelly, Sonya Hamilton, and Bill Nolen.
To all these professionals and friends, thank you so much.
 Introduction

If we all did the things we are capable of doing,

we would astound ourselves.
—Thomas Edison

D avid Marino is a smart, driven, and decisive division

president with a knack for grasping complex business
issues and making the right calls. He’s had a meteoric rise and as a result
is regarded as a CEO succession candidate. Yet there’s something about
David’s style that isn’t working.
His team appears to be frayed around the edges, running hard and
quite irritable. Many outside David’s inner circle of direct reports are grum-
bling that he isn’t involving them in decisions, nor is he encouraging them
to develop as leaders. Why is an otherwise smart executive struggling to
engage a team that had been firing on all cylinders? What should he do to
correct this before it permanently damages his reputation?
Alicia Sanchez is six months into a role leading a team of portfolio
managers at a global investment firm. Thrust into a high-pressure situa-
tion after her boss was fired, she managed to sail through the first couple of
months by falling back on her thoughtful style, active listening skills, and
calm demeanor. She’s righted the ship and brought stability to the team,
but now she’s at a crossroad.
The honeymoon is over, and a steady stream of direct reports is in and
out of her office, essentially challenging the group’s lack of direction. Alicia’s
boss has called her in to say it’s time to create a vision. What is holding Alicia
back from inspiring others with a plan they can get behind? Can she rise
beyond people management to become a visionary leader? It could mean the
difference between a promotion and the fate that met her predecessor.

xi
xii Introduction

WHAT IT MEANS TO BE “ALL THE LEADER YOU CAN BE”

As you move forward in your career, you stand on a bigger stage—the nov-
elty of the job heightens, and the challenges become greater. Whatever got
you here—that combination of technical skill, business acumen, and drive
to succeed—will only take you so far. In the ranks of senior leadership,
what matters most is your ability to influence, engage, align, mobilize, and
inspire people to act. This is how we define executive presence. Research
shows that there are precisely 15 qualities of executive presence that you can
develop to become all you can be.
The challenge, as you’ll learn in this book, is that there’s no single for-
mula for achieving extraordinary executive presence. As David’s and Alicia’s
stories illustrate, no two leaders are alike! However, through a science-based
approach, we know that there is a tested, reliable model of presence that we
can now rely on to map a path—your path—to great leadership.
This model will help you uncover your own executive presence “iden-
tity” and leverage your unique strengths to make an even greater impact on
the world, your organization, and the people around you. The science of
executive presence will also explain gaps that hold you back from achieving
your highest potential.
Although there is no “one way” to achieve extraordinary executive pres-
ence, this book will provide a singularly potent guide to developing new
strengths and standing out in your industry. You’ll find ample evidence that
these are the right facets, as told through the stories of leaders like you who
found their road map.
Leaders like David and Alicia have found that path forward and have
strengthened their presence to such an extent that they’re now identified
as senior-level succession candidates. They’ve learned more than they ever
knew about how others perceive their presence and impact, and they’ve
translated this knowledge into action.
One of the big messages of this book is that by understanding how
your intentions as a leader match up with perceptions, you can learn how
to flex your style to gain trust, build alignment, lead change, inspire perfor-
mance, and drive executional excellence.

WHY WE HAVE HAD EXECUTIVE PRESENCE WRONG

We can all remember good leaders who have derailed or been stuck in a
role, not understanding why. Tory Bellingham’s colleagues in finance
 Introduction xiii

described her as an energetic, outgoing, authentic person. She exuded the

polish, demeanor, and professionalism that you’d expect in an SVP of a
multinational company. Her direct reports would have said she defined
executive presence.
However, those in senior management had their doubts. They saw a
smart, promising leader who seemed passive and hesitant. They couldn’t
be more specific than that, but they cared enough about her future with
the company to ask her HR business partner to find her a coach to help her
with her executive presence. They were clear about one thing—they’d need
to see change to consider her succession as a CFO. Naturally, this feedback
was confusing to Tory. What exactly did they mean by executive presence?
Executive presence has long been a mysterious “X factor” in leadership.
Intuitively, people know it is important, but why? When asked to define
presence, most people say, “I’m not sure. But I know it when I see it!”
When pressed for a definition, they offer responses such as “commanding
the room,” “gravitas,” “savvy,” “charisma,” and “polish.”
The trouble is that those words need their own definitions! They don’t
capture the deeper, more profound reasons to care about executive presence.
Thinking about it as polish, image, wardrobe, or even confidence fails to
acknowledge the nuanced aspects of a leader’s impact that matter to driving
organizational results. And after all, what leaders care about most is getting
results. Shouldn’t there be a better definition? Well, yes . . . there should!
Perhaps you’ve been thinking that one of the most common ways to
evaluate executive presence, i.e., the 360-degree model, achieves the goal of
accurately assessing it. What’s missing from typical 360 instruments is the
science behind this specific area of leadership presence and influence. Often it
is described as “communication” or “influence.” But what precisely is meant
by those terms? Since the language is often vague, executive presence has never
really been measured, which means it’s remained a rather elusive concept.
It’s not that up to now we’ve had the definition all wrong; but neither
does it seem that we’ve had it quite right. And this is frustrating for leaders
as well as those who support talent and help leaders develop. They simply
haven’t had a reliable way to talk about it, or the language to offer specific,
actionable advice to leaders like Tory. The picture has been incomplete. It
would be like coming upon a partially finished 1,000-piece puzzle, search-
ing for the missing pieces in the box, only to discover they just aren’t there.
Our decision to research executive presence grew out of our desire to
find the missing pieces and complete the picture. The result of several years
xiv Introduction

of research, piloting, and work with clients is a science-based model that

brings into full view the elements of presence. The model decodes the mys-
tery by identifying 15 qualities that are tied directly to a leader’s ability to
drive organizational performance.
Many of these qualities are largely unexplored areas of leadership pres-
ence, including aspects of character such as Integrity. They also encompass
qualities we often don’t talk about, like Concern and Intentionality. We
don’t ignore the more familiar topics like Confidence and Appearance, but
they come more sharply into focus in a nuanced definition, and they are
directly connected to drivers of leadership performance.

ARE WE GIVING UP ON TRADITIONAL WAYS

OF THINKING ABOUT EXECUTIVE PRESENCE?
Jill Cromwell had moved into a strategy role supporting the president of a
large division in her company, and as the pressure mounted, her appearance
changed. She looked fatigued and sometimes disheveled. Her casual, rather
haphazard clothing choices of late did not reflect her status as a senior
leader. She was harried and impatient, which made others wonder whether
she had it together enough to do the job. What few knew was that in addi-
tion to the demands of the job, she was overwhelmed as a single parent who
had a son with a serious, chronic illness.
Appearance and wardrobe send such strong signals about our suitabil-
ity for leadership that they are often the first topics in conversations about
executive presence. Appearance is an important factor—it represents 1 of
the 15 qualities in the model. We are not abandoning traditional ways of
thinking of presence. We are simply opening the aperture.
For instance, in Jill’s case, it isn’t only her wardrobe choices, but her
lack of energy and vigor, as well as some related issues of Restraint and
Composure, that gave those around her the feeling that she was crumbling
under pressure and not up to the task. The familiar executive presence top-
ics like Appearance are richer and more precise when we have a model that
gets to the heart of all the reasons why the signals are wrong.
Before we share with you the entire list in Chapter 1, know that all 15
of these qualities of executive presence live within each and every one of us
in varying degrees. But we are not born knowing how to use them. We may
not be conscious of whether these qualities are perceived as strengths, or
what we need to do to unleash them. To be sure, we all have strengths. We
 Introduction xv

also usually have some gaps. Understanding your strengths and your gaps is
the first step to becoming all you can be. And yes, it is possible for anyone
to develop all 15 of these qualities of presence.

WHY WE WROTE THIS BOOK

Discovering the true essence of executive presence is hardly an academic
exercise for my team! We came at it with a very practical mindset. We
wanted to develop an approach that leaders could use to help them navigate
the challenges of their roles and influence outcomes. The decision to define
all but one category with a single word is deliberate, as we wanted to make
them both instantly recognizable and relevant to what leaders care about
most.
I spent the first two decades of my career in broadcast journalism
before launching a firm that specializes in communicative leadership. As
CEO and founder of Bates, I have led a team that has brought an innova-
tive approach to coaching leaders in impact and influence. Our team has
developed breakthrough tools and processes that hundreds of organizations
have now adopted in guiding effective leadership communication. I’ve pub-
lished several books prior to this one, including Speak Like a CEO: Secrets
for Commanding Attention and Getting Results.
Each of the management psychologists who helped create and refine
the Bates Executive Presence Index (Bates ExPI) has several decades of expe-
rience in executive assessment and development, including a wide variety
of roles in consulting to and leading others. Collectively, they have written
countless articles and white papers, including several related to executive
presence research.
In teaming together, our goal is to share how any leader can achieve a
powerful brand of extraordinary executive presence. We have drawn on a
rigorous process to design a model and operationalize it in an assessment,
taking care to tie everything back to helping the leader appreciate why it
matters in the context of his or her business challenges.
We like to tell the stories of leaders who are on their way to becom-
ing the best they can be. We’ve done our best to bring alive the client case
studies that illustrate how theory is applied. For us it’s not only about
helping leaders achieve their personal goals—though that’s important; it’s
also about helping them accelerate organizational outcomes and make an
impact on the world.
xvi Introduction

CAN YOU REALLY MEASURE A LEADER’S

EXECUTIVE PRESENCE?
There has never been a research-based model of executive presence, so we’ve
never been able to measure it. Coaches and those in the field of leadership
development have relied on common sense, observation, anecdote, and
guesswork. Yet these alone have only resulted in “approximating” EP rather
than zeroing in on it. We don’t contradict established theories but instead
pull things all together, to complete a picture and show how executive pres-
ence can be measured and tied to individual and team performance.
It has taken a few years to operationalize our work, pilot it, roll out
programs, and evaluate the results. The satisfaction has been enormous.
We’ve seen what a game changer it is for leaders who experience it. Many
of them have told us that this fresh way of looking at leadership effective-
ness has brought sharply into focus what they sensed but couldn’t put their
fingers on.
You’re undoubtedly familiar with that old adage, “You can’t manage
what you can’t measure,” originated by W. Edwards Deming and often reit-
erated by such luminaries as Peter Drucker, Larry Bossidy, and Ram Charan.
The fact that the model is operationalized in a multirater assessment means it
provides accurate data that measures the right things. As a leader you expect
accuracy in business data, and you should expect the same when it comes to
evaluating your performance. That’s what we’ve strived to provide.
In this book we’ll document the many ways that measurement can be
used to help organizations, too. We’ll share stories of how data can be inter-
preted to understand the reasons teams are stuck, and we’ll consider why
initiatives fail, engagement suffers, or leadership cultures are not strong. We
believe this will help teams understand how they show up to one another
and the impact they have on their organizations. There’s also some fascinat-
ing data to share that’s emerging from our research on women and diverse
leaders, which we hope will inform high-potential development. And we’ll
talk about how to benchmark, track, and provide a return on investment
for leadership programs.
While we encourage every reader to consider utilizing an assessment-
based approach, you will find great value in simply understanding the
model. We’ve written the book in such a way that whether or not you’ve
completed the assessment (or even intend to), you’ll be able to reflect on
these qualities and think deeply about how they resonate for you. We
want to make this book valuable to anyone on a leadership journey, so we
 Introduction xvii

encourage you to explore the concepts and apply what you’re learning to
your own circumstances.
Throughout the book, we’ll reference the Bates ExPI, our multirater
measurement tool with which we gathered much of the data and client
case studies. More information on the assessment tool can be found at
www.AlltheLeaderBook.com. There, you’ll also find a quick preassessment
questionnaire that will help you view how the various facets of executive
presence map to your unique business situation and challenges. The pre-
assessment questionnaire will provide you with insights based on some of
the most common scenarios we find our clients face where executive pres-
ence becomes most necessary and relevant.

A HOLISTIC APPROACH
We take a holistic view of the leader as a person and call out qualities often
not discussed. As a result, our model of executive presence offers a far richer,
more complete picture of each leader in three dimensions: Character,
Substance, and Style. Rather than put you into a box and label you, as many
assessments do, we acknowledge the unique individual you are. The tech-
nical term for this is an ideographic assessment, which we’ll explain. The
bottom line is that for purposes of assessing executive presence, we believe
that labels do not serve leaders well, as the leaders often get results and con-
clude, “Well, I guess this is who I am!” Instead, this model is grounded in
the philosophy that all these qualities are amenable to change. Leaders can
be empowered to take action. That’s powerful stuff!
A holistic model of executive presence also raises the bar in the assess-
ment and development of leaders. It fuels productive talent discussions and
succession planning meetings. Organizations no longer need to be satisfied
with a conversation that starts with, “Well, he’s a smart guy but not execu-
tive material,” or “She just doesn’t seem to stand out.” It levels the playing
field for all leaders—and creates a very specific case for what each leader
needs to do to influence and drive results.

NOT JUST A “NICE-TO-HAVE”

Executive presence has been thought of as icing on the cake—a nice-to-
have. This is understandable since it’s usually discussed in terms of pol-
ish, appearance, wardrobe, and communication skills. While these are
xviii Introduction

noticeable and important aspects of presence, they do not describe all the
ways that leaders align effort and get things done. So it is well worth your
time to appreciate these qualities. In fact we would argue it is essential.
What’s crucial about getting executive presence right is that when you
demonstrate these qualities, your organization thrives. You can replicate
those great outcomes as you move up through the ranks. Success doesn’t
depend on your circumstance, and you don’t need to leave it to chance.
When you understand the impact you have, you can help people navigate
change, align effort, overcome obstacles, and achieve extraordinary things.
Executive presence is no longer a nice-to-have!

DO EXPERIENCED LEADERS NEED TO BE CONCERNED

ABOUT EXECUTIVE PRESENCE?
If you’re well along in your career, you may wonder, “Does this stuff matter
to me at this point?” “Isn’t this for junior managers?” We would say quite the
contrary. When you get established in your leadership career, it matters more
than ever. The qualities we are measuring are specific to senior leadership.
We would encourage you to keep alive the learning mindset that has
brought you this far. Whether you’re new to leadership or you’re further
along in your career, you’ll find stories about people in your situation. These
are people who’ve learned a great deal about themselves. As a result of work-
ing on qualities of executive presence, they are experiencing the feeling of
having greater influence and impact and achieving more satisfaction in
their careers.
In How the Mighty Fall, Jim Collins’s sequel to Good to Great, Collins
offers research on why this type of sustained development matters even
to CEOs and senior executives. Collins writes that while working on our-
selves throughout our careers may feel less urgent or glamorous than facing
the latest positive earnings call, it is necessary to our long-term success.
Examples abound of organizations that have risen and fallen because lead-
ers started to believe their own press clippings. As leaders we have to guard
against a state of hubris that can sneak in and replace the discipline that got
us there.
Avoiding complacency requires a willingness to appreciate how oth-
ers perceive us. What separates the good from the great, whether you are a
CEO, or a senior leader, or a high-potential leader, is the desire to get better
 Introduction xix

all the time. When you embrace this mindset, you model it for others, cre-
ating a culture that strives to be at its best.

FOR LEADERS IN HUMAN RESOURCES

This book also intends to help those of you in human resources looking to
ground your organization’s view of executive presence in research and data
and, as a result, bring robust, targeted development to the organization.
HR leaders who have adopted the model and assessment today tell us it has
ignited a richer dialogue on executive presence in their companies. Those in
executive development, talent management, succession planning, and high-
potential development have actually been innovating with us, enabling us
to jointly discover what extraordinary executive presence should look like
and how it can be realized in their organizations.
HR leaders know executive management is looking for answers, not
guesswork. These executives are seeking to understand which qualities of
leadership matter most and how leadership development connects to an
organization’s strategic objectives. Leadership effectiveness matters to them
and is becoming for many organizations a significant, board-level issue.
There is a need to make better decisions about talent and succession based
on hard data. The organization needs your help to get it right. As an HR
leader you can arm those in management with insight that enriches discus-
sions and helps them make better, more informed, confident decisions.

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

You may choose to read as much about the science and theory as you wish.
Our intention is to provide evidence of the efficacy of the model, but also
to bring all that theory alive through the stories of leaders. From time to
time we’ll stop and cite our own research and that of others so that you can
appreciate the richness of the model. Whether or not this interests every
reader, we are pretty sure that anyone picking up this book will recognize
and connect with the leaders in these pages because they’ll be a lot like
people you’ve known. We’ve taken care to protect their identities and cir-
cumstances, so all the names are purely fictional. While we’ve been true
enough to the stories to make them real, we’ve altered some facts in order to
protect confidentiality.
Another random document with
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the other hand, he did not know of the fish, he must have expected a
watery grave, whether the idolaters threw him into the sea, or
whether he waited until the ship went to pieces. In this case, also, if
a Talmudist, it would have been his duly to have staged where he
was, and if he perished, die in the fulfilment or the command, to
show no mercy to idolaters. But he did not—he had compassion on
them, and, to save their lives, relinquished his only chance of safety,
by telling them to throw him into the sea. It is plain, therefore, Jonah
was not a Talmudist. We have here, then, three inspired prophets,
Daniel, Elisha, and Jonah, all bearing a practical testimony against
the Talmudic principle, which extends God’s law against the
Canaanites to all idolaters, and under all circumstances.
Lastly, We have the testimony of the God of Israel himself. He who
gave the command to destroy the Canaanites on account of their
exceeding wickedness, shows by his own dealings with the world,
that this case is an exception to the general rule, for “The Lord is
good to all, and his mercies are over all his works.” He provides food
and clothing for the idolater, as well as for those who worship him in
truth; or, as the New Testament says, “He maketh his sun to rise on
the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the
unjust.” (Matt. vi. 45.) He, then, whose conduct most resembles that
of his Creator, is, beyond all doubt, the nearest to the truth. The
Talmud, therefore, is wrong, and the New Testament explanation of
the command, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself,” is right. We
ask the Jews, then, to account for this fact, that Jesus of Nazareth
was right, and those who condemned him wrong, respecting one-half
of the whole law. And we ask, moreover, those Jews who abhor the
above Talmudic principles, how they can conscientiously join in the
synagogue prayers, which ascribe to the Talmud Divine authority?
We ask them why, at the very least, they have never publicly
protested against these enormities; but allow their brethren through
the world to remain victims to a system, which not only contradicts
the written law of God, but outrages all the better feelings of even
fallen humanity?
 No. VI.
COMPULSORY CONVERSION OF THE GENTILES.

When, at the close of the fifteenth century, the Jews were driven out
of Spain, some of the magnanimous exiles, who had preferred loss
of all things to a compulsory change of religion, arrived at the
frontiers of Portugal, and there sought an asylum. A permanent
abode was refused, and a temporary sojourn was granted them on
two conditions—1st, That each should pay a certain quantity of gold
for his admission; and 2dly, That if they were found in Portugal after
a certain day, they should either consent to be baptized, or be sold
for slaves.[12] Now Jews of every degree and shade of religious belief
will agree with us, that these conditions were most disgraceful to
those who imposed them. To refuse gratuitous assistance to the poor
and needy, merely because they had been brought up in a different
religious faith, was utterly unworthy of those professing faith in
Divine revelation. To compel the unfortunate to choose between loss
of liberty or of conscience was the act of a fiend. But now suppose
that the Portuguese had endeavoured to persuade these poor exiles
that their conduct, however base it might appear, was commanded
by God himself. Suppose, further, that when called upon to prove
that this command was from God, they had confessed that no such
command was to be found in the written books of their religion, that it
was only a tradition of their oral law, do you think that the Jewish
exiles would have been satisfied with such proof, and submitted?
Would they not, in the first place, have questioned the authority of a
command resting merely upon uncertain tradition? And would they
not have argued, from the detestable nature of the command itself,
that it could not possibly emanate from the God of truth and love?
We ask you then to apply these principles to ‫ תורה שבעל פה‬the oral
law. The Portuguese refused to perform an act of humanity to the
unfortunate Jewish exiles, unless they were paid for it. Your oral law,
as we showed in our last number, forbids you to give medical advice
to a sick idolater gratuitously. The Portuguese voluntarily undertook
to convert the Jews by force. Your oral law teaches compulsory
conversion as a Divine command. If the oral law could be enforced,
liberty of conscience would be at an end. Neither Jew nor Gentile
would be permitted to exercise the judgment, which God has given
him. His only alternative would be submission to Rabbinic authority,
or death. The dreadful command to kill, by any means, those
Israelites who have become epicureans, or idolaters, or apostates, is
well known,[13] and sufficiently proves that the oral law recognises no
such thing as liberty of conscience in Israel. It pronounces a man an
apostate if he denies its Divine authority, and demands his life as the
penalty. The execution of this one command would fill the world with
blood and horror; and recall all the worst features of inquisitorial
tyranny. Not now to mention those Israelites who have embraced
Christianity, there are in England, and every part of Europe, many
high-minded and honourable Jews, who have practically renounced
the authority of the oral law. The Rabbinical millennium would
commence by handing over all such to the executioner. Their talents,
their virtue, their learning, their moral excellence, would avail
nothing. Found guilty of epicureanism or apostasy, because they
dared to think for themselves, and to act according to their
convictions, they would have to undergo the epicurean’s or the
apostate’s fate.
Such is the toleration of the oral law towards native Israelites, but it
is equally severe to converts. It allows no second thoughts. It
legislates for relapsed converts, as the Spanish Inquisition did for
those Jews who, after embracing Christianity, returned to their
former faith and sentences all such to death.
‫ ואחר כך וצה לחזור מאחרי ה׳ ולהיות גר תושב בלבד‬, ‫בן נח שנתגייר ומל וטבל‬
‫ אלא יהיה כישראל לכל דבר או יהרג ׃‬, ‫ אין שומעין לו‬, ‫כשהיה מקודם‬
“A Noahite who has become a proselyte, and been circumcised and
baptized, and afterwards wishes to return from after the Lord, and to
be only a sojourning proselyte, as he was before, is not to be
listened to—on the contrary, either let him be an Israelite in
everything, or let him be put to death.” (Hilchoth Melachim, c. x. 3.)
In this law there is an extraordinary severity. The oral law admits that
a Noahite, that is, a heathen who has taken upon himself the seven
commandments of the children of Noah, may be saved. It cannot,
therefore, be said that the severity was dictated by a wish to deter
men from error, and to restrain them from rushing upon everlasting
ruin, as the Inquisition pleads. The oral law goes a little further, and
not only will not permit a man to change his creed, but will not even
suffer him to change his ceremonial observances. Though the man
should commit no crime, and though he should continue to worship
the one true God, in spirit and in truth, yet if he only alter the outward
forms of his religion, modern Judaism requires that he should be put
to death.
But the tender care of the oral law is not limited to the narrow
confines of Judaism, it extends also to the heathen, amongst whom
it directs the true faith to be propagated by the sword. First, it gives a
particular rule. In case of war with the Gentiles, it commands the
Jews to offer peace on two conditions—the one that they should
become tributaries, the other that they should renounce idolatry and
take upon them the seven precepts of the Noahites, and then adds—
‫ואם לא השלימו או שהשלימו ולא קבלו שבע מצוות עושין עמהם מלחמה והורגין‬
‫ ובוזזין כל ממונם וטפם ואין הורגין אשה ולא קטן שנאמר‬, ‫כל הזכים הגדולים‬
‫והנשים והטף וכו׳ ׃‬
“But if they will not make peace, or if they will make peace but will
not take upon them the seven commandments, the war is to be
carried on against them, and all the adult males are to be put to
death; and their property and their little ones are to be taken as
plunder. But no woman or male infant is to be put to death, for it is
said, ‘The women and the little ones’ (Deut. xx. 14.), and here little
ones mean male infants.” (Hilchoth Melachim, c. vi. 4.) Now what
difference, we would ask, is there between the conduct here
prescribed, and that actually practised by the Portuguese, at the
period above referred to, and thus described by a Jew:[14]—“At the
expiration of the appointed time, most of the Jews had emigrated,
but many still remained in the country. The King therefore gave
orders to take away from them all their children under fourteen years
of age, to distribute them amongst Christians, to send them to the
newly-discovered islands, and thus to pluck up Judaism by the roots.
Dreadful was the cry of lamentation uttered by the parents, but the
unfortunates found no mercy.” Do you condemn this conduct in the
Portuguese? Be then consistent, and condemn it in the Talmud too.
As for ourselves, we abhor it as much, yea more, in those calling
themselves Christians, We look upon the actors in that transaction
as a disgrace to the Christian name, and the deed itself as a foul blot
upon the history of Christendom. But we cannot help thinking that,
dreadful and detestable as this mode of conversion is, it pleased
God in his providence to suffer wicked men thus to persecute Israel,
that the Jews might have a practical experience of the wickedness of
the oral law, and thus be led to reject such persecuting principles.
The Jewish nation rejected the Lord Jesus Christ, and preferred the
oral law. This law, not dictated by a spirit of retaliation upon the
Portuguese, but invented by the Pharisees centuries before Portugal
was a kingdom, commanded the Jews to convert the heathen by
force, to murder all who would not consent to be thus converted, and
to take away the children. And God suffered them to fall into the
hands of men of similar principles, who took away their children,
attempted to convert themselves by force, and sold for slaves the
Jews who refused to be thus converted; so that the very misfortunes
of the nation testify aloud against those traditions which they
preferred to the Word of God. But perhaps some Jew will say that
this is only a particular command, referring to the nations in the
vicinity of the land of Israel. We reply, that the command to convert
the heathen by force, is not particular, but general, referring to the
whole world. If the Jews had the power, this is the conduct which
they are to pursue towards all the nations of the earth.
‫וכן צוה משה רבינו מפי הגבורה לכוף את כל באי העולם לקבל מצוות שנצטוו בני‬
‫ וכל מי שלא קבל יהרג ׃‬, ‫נח‬
“And thus Moses our master, has commanded us, by Divine
tradition, to compel all that come into the world to take upon
themselves the commandments imposed upon the sons of Noah,
and whosoever will not receive them is to be put to death.” (Hilchoth
Melachim, c. viii. 4.)
Such is the Talmudic system of toleration, and such the means which
it prescribes for the conversion of the world. We acknowledge that
persons calling themselves Christians have had an oral law very
similar in its principles and precepts, but we fearlessly challenge the
whole world to point out anything similar in the doctrines of Jesus
Christ, or in the writings of his apostles. The New Testament does,
indeed, teach us to seek the conversion of the world, not by force of
arms, but by teaching the truth. “Go ye, therefore, and make
disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all
things whatsoever I have commanded you.” (Matt. xxviii. 19.) In the
parable of the tares and wheat, Jesus of Nazareth hath expressly
taught us that physical force is not to be employed in order to
remove moral error. The servants are represented as asking the
master of the house, whether they should go and root out the tares
that grew amongst the wheat, but the answer is, “Nay, lest while ye
gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both
grow together until the harvest; and in the time of harvest I will say to
the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in
bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.” (Matt. xiii.
24-43.) He tells us expressly to have nothing to do with the sword,
“For all they that take the sword, shall perish with the sword.” (Matt.
xxvi. 52.) And therefore the apostle says, “The weapons of our
warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of
strong holds.” (2 Cor. x. 4.) Here again, then, there is a great
difference between the oral law and the New Testament. The former
commands that the truth be maintained and propagated by the
sword. The latter tells us that “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing
by the Word of God.” Which, then, is most agreeable to the doctrine
of Moses and the prophets? We answer fearlessly, the means
prescribed by the New Testament, for—
1st, No instance can be adduced from the Old Testament, in which
God commanded the propagation of the truth by the power of the
sword. The extirpation of the seven nations of Canaan is not in point,
for the Israelites were not commanded to make them any offer of
mercy on condition of conversion. The measure of their iniquity was
full, and therefore the command to destroy every soul absolute.
Neither in the command referred to by Maimonides is there the least
reference to conversion. It simply says, “When thou comest nigh
unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it. And it shall
be if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall
be that all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries unto
thee, and they shall serve thee. And if it will make no peace with
thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it: and
when the Lord thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt
smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword. But the women
and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all
the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself.” (Deut. xx. 10-14.)
Here is not one word said about conversion, or about the seven
commandments of the sons of Noah. The command itself is
hypothetical, “When thou comest nigh unto a city;” and therefore
gives no colour nor pretext for setting out on a war of conversion, “to
compel all that come into the world.” As it stands, it is a humane and
merciful direction to restrain the horrors of the then prevailing system
of warfare; and beautifully exemplifies the value which God sets
upon the life of man, whatever his nation or his religion. He will not
suffer it to be destroyed unnecessarily; and even in case of
extremity, he commands the lives of the women and the children,
who never bore arms against Israel, to be spared. There is not a
syllable about forcing their consciences: that is all pure gratuitous
addition of the oral law, which turns a merciful command into an
occasion of bigotry and religious tyranny.
2dly, As God has given no command to propagate religion by the
sword, so neither has He given any countenance to such doctrine,
by the instrumentality which He has employed for the preservation of
religion in the world. He did not choose a mighty nation of soldiers as
the depositories of his truth, nor any of the overturners of kingdoms
for his prophets. If it had been his intention to convert the world by
force of arms, Nimrod would have been a more suitable instrument
than Abraham, and the mighty kingdom of Egypt more fitted for the
task than the family of Hebrew captives. But by the very choice He
showed, that truth was to be propagated by Divine power working
conviction in the minds of men, and not by physical strength. It would
have been just as easy for him to have turned every Hebrew captive
in Egypt into a Samson, as to turn the waters into blood; and to have
sent them into the world to overturn idolatry by brute force; but He
preferred to enlighten the minds of men by exhibiting a series of
miracles, calculated to convince them of his eternal power and
Godhead. When the ten tribes revolted, and fell away into idolatry,
He did not employ the sword of Judah, but the voice of his prophets,
to recall them to the truth. He did not compel them, as the oral law
would have done, to an outward profession, but dealt with them as
with rational beings, and left them to the choice of their hearts.
Nineveh was not converted by Jewish soldiers, but by the preaching
of Jonah. So far is God from commanding the propagation of religion
by the sword, that He would not even suffer a man of war to build a
temple for his worship. When David thought of erecting a temple, the
Lord said unto him, “Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and hast
made great wars; thou shalt not build an house unto my name,
because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth.” (1 Chron. xxii.
8.) Thus hath God shown his abhorrence of compulsory conversion,
and in all his dealings confirmed his Word, “Not by might nor by
power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.” (Zech. iv. 6.)
3dly, God has in his Word promised the conversion of the world, but
not by the means prescribed in the oral law. His promise to Abraham
was, “In thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” (Gen.
xxii. 18.) Now this can hardly mean that his descendants are to treat
all nations, as the Portuguese treated the Jews. The 72nd Psalm
gives rather a different view of the fulfilment of this promise. It
promises not a victorious soldier like Mahomet, but one “in whose
days the righteous shall flourish, and abundance of peace so long as
the moon endureth.... All nations shall call Him blessed.” The
prophet Isaiah tells us “that out of Zion shall go forth (not conquering
armies to compel, but) the law, and the Word of the Lord from
Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and rebuke many
people; and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their
spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against
nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” Zechariah says, “He
shall speak peace to the heathen;” and declares that the conversion
of the world will not be the reward of conquest, but the result of
conviction. “In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall
take hold, out of all the languages of the nations, even shall take
hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you, for
we have heard that God is with you.” (Zech. viii. 23.) Here again,
then, you see that whilst the oral law differs from Moses and the
prophets, the New Testament agrees with them. Account, then, for
this extraordinary fact, that whilst the whole Jewish nation lost the
great and glorious doctrine of liberty of conscience, it has been
preserved for you and for all mankind by Jesus of Nazareth. Just
suppose that the principles of the Talmud had triumphed, either
amongst the Jews or the Portuguese, what would have been the
consequence to the world? If the Talmudists had attained to supreme
power, we should have had to choose between compulsory
conversion and the sword. If the Portuguese had attained to
universal dominion, both you and we should have had the alternative
of compulsory conversion or the fires of the Inquisition. In either
case, the noblest and most precious gift that the God of heaven ever
sent down to earth, liberty of conscience, would have been extinct.
But, thank God, the doctrine of Jesus of Nazareth has triumphed
over the oral laws of both Jews and Portuguese, and the result is,
that both you and we have the liberty of worshipping God according
to the convictions of our understanding and the dictates of our
conscience. Behold, then, how you are indebted to Jesus of
Nazareth. Without him you would not have known religious liberty,
either theoretically or practically. He is right on this all-important
point, whilst those who condemned him to death and rejected his
claims are wrong. If he was not the true Messiah, but only a
pretender, how is it that God has made him and his doctrine the
exclusive channel for preserving the truth of his Word, and
conveying such blessings to you as well as to us Gentiles? If the
Pharisees were right in rejecting him, how is it that God has
rewarded their piety by giving them over to such gross delusions,
and making them the transmitters of doctrines, which would fill the
world with blood and hatred and discord, and make even the truth
odious in the eyes of all mankind? For ourselves we cannot help
coming to the conclusion, that He who has taught us mercy and love
to all men, and delivered both you and us from such horrors—and
who, in doing this, rose above all the doctrines of his nation and his
times, was taught of God, and is, therefore, the true Messiah, the
Saviour of the world.
Certain it is, that this doctrine has already been a blessing to the
world; and that until your nation embrace its principles, at least on
this one point of love and toleration, it is impossible that the
promised glory and pre-eminence of the Jewish nation should come.
With such principles as are inculcated in the oral law, a restoration to
the land of your forefathers would be no blessing. It would only
realize all the legislative and religious speculations of the Talmudists,
and arm them with the power to tyrannize over their more
enlightened brethren. It would be the triumph of tradition over the
Word of God, and that the God of truth will not permit. It would be to
instal the spirit of intolerance and persecution on the throne of love
and charity, and that God will not suffer. The Talmud is, thus, a main
obstacle in the way of God’s fulfilling his promises to the nation,
because it incapacitates Israel for the reception or the right
employment of the promised blessings. Is it not, then, the duty of all
Jews who desire and long for the glory and the happiness which God
has promised, to lift up their voice with power, and to protest against
that system which prevents the fulfilment of God’s promises; and by
all lawful means to endeavour to deliver their brethren from the
bondage of such intolerance?
 No. VII.
THE FEAST OF PURIM.

The feast of Purim now at hand, recalls to the Jewish recollection

one of those miraculous deliverances, with which the history of Israel
abounds. The narrative of the institution, as contained in the Bible, is
a signal proof and illustration of the superintending providence of
God, instructive to all the world, but calling peculiarly for the gratitude
and praise of the Jewish nation, whose forefathers were then
delivered. And it is much to the honour of their posterity that they
have not suffered the lapse of more than twenty centuries to wear
out the memory of this great event, but that to this day they observe
its anniversary with alacrity and zeal. If the oral law simply contented
itself with commanding the observance and prescribing the mode of
worship for such an important season, we should have no fault to
find; but the oral law claims for itself Divine origin and authority,
anathematizes any denial of these claims as heresy, and sentences
the heretic to death. We are, therefore, compelled to examine its
pretensions, and to scrutinize its features, in order to see whether
they really bear the stamp of divinity. We have already pointed out
some, that savoured more of earth than heaven: the constitutions for
the feast of Purim may be traced to the same source. The following
law respecting the meal to be provided on this occasion did certainly
not come to man from heaven:—
‫ ושותה יין עד‬, ‫חובת סעודה זו שיאכל בשר ויתקן סעודה נאה כפי אשר תמצא ידו‬
‫שישתכר וירדם בשכרותו ׃‬
“A man’s duty with regard to the feast is, that he should eat meat and
prepare a suitable feast according to his means; and drink wine, until
he be drunk, and fell asleep in his drunkenness.” (Hilchoth Megillah,
c. ii. 15.) The Talmud, however, is not satisfied with so indefinite a
direction, but lays down, with its usual precision, the exact measure
of intoxication required.
‫חייב איניש לבסומי בפוריא עד דלא ידע בין ארור המן לברוך מרדכי ׃‬
“A man is bound to get so drunk with wine at Purim, as not to know
the difference between Cursed is Haman, and Blessed is Mordecai.”
(Megillah, fol. 7, col. 2.) But perhaps some learned champion of the
Talmud will fly to that sort of refuge for destitute commentators, the
parabolic language of the orient, and tell us that this precept is not to
be understood literally but figuratively; and that so far from
recommending intoxication, it means to inculcate excess of sobriety
or devotion, such abstraction of the senses, from all outward objects,
as not to distinguish between cursed is Haman and blessed is
Mordecai. This sort of defence is neither imaginary nor novel. In this
way Rabbi Eliezer’s permission to split open an unlearned man like a
fish has been made to signify the spiritual opening of the
understanding, and of course the overweening anxiety of the
Rabbies to communicate instruction to the ignorant. But however we
dull Gentiles may be enlightened by such an exposition, we much
doubt whether the greatest amhaaretz in Israel will believe the
interpretation. The great and learned Rabbies Solomon Jarchi and
Moses Maimonides have understood literal drunkenness, and have
named wine as the legitimate liquor. R. Joseph Karo has simply
given the command verbatim as it stands in the Talmud, but a note in
the Orach Chaiim shows, that some of the modern Rabbies were not
able to swallow such a command, and, therefore, say that an
Israelite does his duty, if he only drink a little more than usual. The
Talmud itself admits of no such softening down, nor explaining away,
for immediately after the precept it goes on to propose an example
and to furnish an illustration of its meaning in the following history of
the very Rabbi, on whose authority this traditional command rests;—
‫ איבסום קם רבה שחטיה לרבי‬, ‫רבה ורבי זירא עבדו סעודת פורים בהדי הדדי‬
‫ לשנה אמר ליה ניתי מר ונעביד סעודת פורים‬, ‫זירא למחר בעא רחמי ואחייה‬
‫בהדי הדדי אמר ליה לאו בכל שעתא ושעתא מתרחיש ניסא ׃‬
“Rabba and Rabbi Zira made their Purim entertainment together.
When Rabba got drunk, he arose and killed Rabbi Zira. On the
following day he prayed for mercy, and restored him to life. The
following year Rabba proposed to him again to make their Purim
entertainment together, but he answered, ‘Miracles don’t happen
every day.’” (Talmud, Tr. Megillah, fol. 7, col. 2.) This history of one of
the men who are authorities for the above Talmudic command to get
drunk, plainly illustrates its meaning, and shows that the Talmud
meant and commanded its followers to drink wine to excess on this
occasion. It sets before them the example of one of the greatest
Rabbies committing murder in his drunkenness, and so far from
reprobating this sin, it gravely tells us that God interposed by a
miracle to prevent the ill-consequences; and that the Rabbi, far from
being cured of his propensity, or making any declaration of his
intention to amend, continued in that state of mind, that his colleague
found it imprudent to trust himself at his table. Now every body that
is acquainted with the Jews, knows that they are a temperate and
sober people; and because they are so, we ask them whether the
above command can be from God? and whether they believe that
the Talmud speaks truth in giving the above narrative? It says not
merely that men may get drunk with impunity, but that to get drunk is
an act of piety, and obedience to a command! Here, again, the
Talmud is directly at issue with the New Testament, which says, “Be
not drunk with wine, wherein is excess.” (Ephes. v. 18.) “Take heed
to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with
surfeiting, and drunkenness, and the cares of this life, and so that
day come upon you unawares.” (Luke xxi. 34.) The New Testament
holds out to us no hope, that if in our drunkenness, we should
commit murder, a miracle will be wrought in order to deliver us from
the consequences; but tells us, that “neither murderers nor
drunkards shall inherit the kingdom of God.” (1 Cor. vi. 9, 10.) Now
which of these two doctrines is the most agreeable to the revealed
will of God? How would you desire to meet death, if death should
come upon the feast of Purim? Would you wish the angel of death to
find you, in obedience to the oral law, insensible from overmuch
wine? or in that state of sobriety and thoughtfulness prescribed by
Jesus of Nazareth? Does not the inward tribunal of the heart decide
that Jesus of Nazareth is right, and that the Talmud is wrong? And
does not the Old Testament confirm the sentence? Isaiah says,
“Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may
follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!
and the harp and the viol, the tabret and pipe, and wine are in their
feasts; but they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the
operation of his hands. Therefore my people are gone into captivity,
because they have no knowledge; and their honourable men are
famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.” (Isaiah v. 11-13.)
And so Moses commands the parents that should they have a son “a
glutton and a drunkard,” to bring him to justice, and to have him
stoned. (Deut. xxi. 20.) The Talmud, then, manifestly contradicts the
Old Testament; it therefore cannot speak truth when it narrates that
God wrought a miracle in order to save a drunkard and a murderer
from that punishment, which He had himself commanded to be
visited upon either of these crimes. The story of the miracle is
therefore a palpable falsehood, contradictory to the law of Moses,
and derogatory to the honour of God. How, then, can the Talmud be
of God? If you attempt to distinguish, as some do, between the
Talmud and the oral law, and say that though the Talmud contains
the oral law, yet it is not all inspired, then we ask, how can you rely
upon the testimony of a witness convicted of wilful, gross, and
flagrant falsehood? If you do not believe in the above miracle of the
drunken Rabba, you denounce it as a liar. If it lie, then, upon this
solemn occasion in relating a miracle, in handing down the law of
God, how can you depend upon it at all? If it does not scruple to
forge miracles, what warrant have you for believing that it does not
forge laws also?
But suppose, which is far more probable, that Rabbi Zira, when killed
by Rabba, had not come to life again, would Rabba, in the eye of the
modern Jewish law, be considered as a murderer, and guilty of
death, or as an innocent person, who might safely be permitted to go
at large, and pursue his usual avocations? This is a question well
deserving an answer from some of your learned men, and naturally
suggested by some principles asserted and implied in the following
decisions of the oral law:—
‫ והדברים ידועים שהיא תקנת‬, ‫קריאת המגלה בזנה מצות עשה מדברי סופרים‬
, ‫ אנשים ונשים וגרים ועבדים משוחררים‬, ‫ והכל חייבים בקריאתה‬, ‫הנביאים‬
‫ ואפילו כהנים בעבודמן מבטלין עבודתן ובאין‬, ‫ומחנכין את הקטנים לקריאתה‬
‫ קל וחומר‬, ‫ וכן מבטלין תלמוד תורה לשמוע מקרא מגלה‬, ‫לשמוע מקרא מגלה‬
‫ ואין לך דבר שנדחה‬, ‫לשאר מצוות של תורה שכולן נדחין מפני מקרא מגלה‬
‫מקרא מגלה מפניו חוץ ממה מצוה שאין לו קוברים שהפוגע בו קוברו תחלה ואחר‬
‫כך קורא ׃‬
“The reading of the Megillah (the book of Esther) in its time is an
affirmative precept according to the words of the scribes, and it is
known that this is an ordinance of the Prophets. The obligation to
read it rests upon all, men, women, and proselytes, and manumitted
slaves. Children also are to be accustomed to the reading of it. Even
priests in their service are to neglect their service, and to come to
hear the reading of the Megillah. In like manner the study of the law
is to be omitted, in order to hear the reading of the Megillah, and a
fortiori all the remaining commandments of the law, all of which give
way to the reading of the Megillah: but there is nothing to which the
reading of the Megillah gives way, except that particular class of
dead person called the dead of the commandment, who has none to
bury him. He that happens upon him is first to bury him, and
afterwards to read.” (Hilchoth Megillah, c. i. 1.) On this extract we
have several remarks to make, but at present we request the
attention of our readers to the reason given why the reading of the
Megillah is more important than any of the commandments. It is this.
According to the oral law, “the study of the law is equivalent to all the
commandments, and the other commandments are to give way to
this study.” But according to the passage before us, the study of the
law is to give way to the reading of the Megillah. The reading of the
Megillah, therefore, being greater than the greatest of the
commandments, is of course greater than all the inferior ones. Now
apply this reasoning to the above command to get drunk, and you
will prove that getting drunk at Purim feast is the greatest of all the
commandments. In order to get drunk, it is plain that the study of the
law must give way. The man who cannot distinguish between
“Cursed be Haman and blessed be Mordecai,” certainly cannot
study, neither can he bury the dead. The commandment, therefore,
to which the study of the law and the burying of the dead give way,
must be the greatest of all the commandments; i.e., the getting drunk
on Purim is the greatest of all the commandments. This conclusion,
which inevitably follows upon Talmudic principles, necessarily shows
that those principles are false. But that is not the object for which I
have exhibited this conclusion; it is with reference to the case of
Rabba above-mentioned. Having got drunk according as the oral law
commanded, and having thereby obeyed the greatest of the
commandments, and one to which all others are necessarily in
abeyance, was he guilty or innocent in having murdered R. Zira? It
certainly seems a very hard case to condemn him to death for an
act, which resulted from his obedience to the greatest of all the
commandments. He might urge that he had a great dislike to
drunkenness—that he had overcome his natural aversion simply to
satisfy the Rabbinical requirements—that by the time that he had
arrived at the prescribed incompetency to distinguish between
Haman and Mordecai, he had lost all power of distinguishing
between right and wrong—that, therefore, he had not done it with
malice propense; what sentence, therefore, does the Talmud
pronounce against a murderer of this sort? If Rabba was allowed to
go at large, as would appear from his invitation to Rabbi Zira the
following year, a repetition of the same offence was possible, a
repetition of the miracle in R. Zira’s opinion highly improbable. Thus
Rabba might go on from year to year killing one or more with
impunity, and would be a far more dangerous neighbour than “the ox
that was wont to push with his horn.” If, on the other hand, he is to
be punished capitally, then the oral law is plainly not from God; for
obedience to the greatest of its commandments makes it possible for
a man to commit the greatest of crimes, and to subject himself to the
extremity of punishment. But we object, secondly, to the exaltation of
a mere human ordinance above the Word of God. The reading of the
book of Esther at the feast of Purim, is no doubt a very appropriate,
and may be a very profitable exercise. But it is confessedly of human
appointment. It is of the words of the scribes; the time and the mode
are altogether Rabbinical ordinances. Why, then, “are all the
remaining commandments of the law to give way to the reading of
the Megillah?” The priest was to neglect the service to which God
had appointed him, in order to obey a mere human institution. And
the Israelites to neglect the duties of love and charity, to fulfil a mere
ceremonial commandment. Here is a plain token that the oral law is
not from God, but is the offspring of human invention and
superstition. The human mind exalts ceremonies above moral duties.
God declares that all outward observances are secondary. “I desired
mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt
offerings.” (Hos. vi. 6.) “He hath showed thee, O man, what is good;
and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love
mercy, and to walk numbly with thy God?” (Mic. vi. 8.) And so the
New Testament says in the very same spirit, “The first of all the
commandments is, Hear O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord, and
thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, &c. This is the first
commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love
thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater
than these.” (Mark. xii. 29-31.) The oral law, on the contrary, tells us
that “all the commandments, except the burying of the dead, are to
give way to the reading of the Megillah,” to a mere ceremony; and
that not even of God’s appointment. God prefers mercy before the
sacrifices which He himself has instituted. The Talmud prefers a
human institution to all God’s commandments. A more striking
instance of genuine superstition, and a stronger proof of the human
origin of the oral law cannot be found.
The book of Esther appears to have been a peculiar favourite of the
Rabbies. The reading of it takes precedence of all other duties but
one, and is considered as obligatory, even upon the women, who are
declared exempt from the study of the law. It is true that it contains a
very notable warning for disobedient wives, and a striking instance of
the deliverance of Israel by the instrumentality of a woman; but when
we consider that the name of God does not occur once in the whole
book, and that the law contains the account of man’s creation and
fall, the ten commandments, the deliverance from Egypt, and all
those events of primary interest to women as well as men, it
becomes of some importance to consider why the women, who are
not bound to study the law of God, are bound to read the book of
Esther. The authors of the oral law appear to have attached
uncommon importance to this book, as appears from this
circumstance, and still more so from the following startling
declaration of Maimonides:—
, ‫כל ספרי הנביאים וכל הכתובים עתידן ליבטל לימות המשיח חוץ ממגלת אסתר‬
‫והרי היא קיימת כחמשה חומשי תורה וכהלכות של תורה שבעל פה שאינן לעולם‬
‫׃‬
“All the books of the prophets, and all the Hagiographa, except the
roll of Esther, will cease in the days of Messiah. But it is perpetual as
the five books of the written law, and the constitutions of the oral law,
which shall never cease.” (Hilchoth Megillah.) Some of the Rabbies
say that this is to be taken conditionally, “although they were all to
cease, yet this would not cease.” But this still attributes a decided
superiority to the book of Esther above all the other books. What
then is there in it, that gives this book such a peculiar favour, and
makes the history of Esther more important than that of the conquest
of Canaan, or of the glory of Solomon, or of the restoration of the
house of the Lord? Is there more devotion and piety to be found in it
than in the Psalms of David? Does it contain more wisdom than the
Proverbs of Solomon? Is there a sublimer flight of Divine poetry, a
more heavenly afflatus than in the visions of Isaiah? A more open
revelation of the mysteries of the Deity than is to be found in Job, or
Daniel, or Ezekiel? Why do the Rabbies pronounce it worthy of
preservation, whilst they contemplate without emotion the loss of all
the other books? We cannot possibly discover, unless it be that it
furnishes more gratification to the spirit of revenge so natural to all
the children of Adam, whether they be Jew or Gentile. To forgive is to
be like God—and God alone can teach forgiveness either
speculatively or practically. But the book of Esther contains an
account of the revenge which the Jews took upon their enemies, not
like the destruction of the Canaanites, fulfilling the commands of God
upon His enemies, but taking personal and individual revenge on
their own. And this very fact may be one reason why God did not
permit his most holy name to occur in the whole book—just as he did
not permit David to build him a temple, so he would not have his
name associated with deeds of personal revenge. But, however that
be, we can discover no other reason for the decided preference
which the oral law gives to the book of Esther. And we think that after
the specimens which we have already given of their spirit towards
idolaters we do them no injustice; especially as, in this particular
case, the oral law breathes this spirit aloud.
‫ ארורים כל‬, ‫ ארורה זרש ברוכה אסתר‬, ‫צריך שיאמר ארור המן ברוך מרדכי‬
‫עכו׳׳ם ברוכים כל ישראל ׃‬
“It is necessary to say, Cursed be Haman, Blessed be Mordecai,
Cursed be Zeresh, Blessed be Esther, Cursed be all idolaters,
Blessed be all Israel.” (Orach Chaiim, sec. 690.) Why this is
necessary, is not told us. It appears not to bring glory to God, nor
any blessing to man. Haman and Zeresh have long since passed
into eternity, and received from the just Judge the reward of their
deeds. Mordecai and Esther have in like manner appeared before
the God of Israel, and received according to their faith. To these,
then, the voice of human praise or reproach is as nothing. But to
curse a dead enemy, to pursue with unrelenting hatred those who
have already fallen into the hands of the living God, is certainly not a
Divine ordinance, and cannot be an acceptable act of worship in
poor sinners, who themselves stand so much in need of forgiveness.
To curse the dead is bad, but to curse the living is, in one sense, still
worse. “Cursed be all idolaters.” According to our calculation, there
are 600 millions of idolaters—according to the Jewish account, there
must be more. Why, then, should they be cursed? That will not
convert them from the error of their ways. It will not make them more
happy, either in this world or in the next. We are not aware, even if
God were to hear this execration and curse the idolatrous world, that
it would be productive of any blessing to Israel. Why make a day of
thanksgiving for mercies received an opportunity of invoking curses
upon the majority of mankind? The Word of God teaches a very
different petition for the heathen. “God, be merciful to us, and bless
us, and cause his face to shine upon us. That thy way may be known
upon earth, thy saving health among all nations. Let the people
praise thee, O God; yea, let all the people praise thee.” (Ps. lxvii.)
 No. VIII.
RABBINIC CONTEMPT FOR THE SONS OF NOAH.

The noblest inquiry, to which the mental powers can be directed, is,
Which religion comes from God? The most satisfactory mode of
conducting such an inquiry, independently of the external evidence,
is to compare the principles of one system with those of the other,
and both with an acknowledged standard, if such there be, and this
is what we are endeavouring to do in these papers. We by no means
wish to make the modern Jews responsible for the inventions of their
forefathers, but to show them that their traditional argument for
rejecting Christianity, and that is the example of the high priest and
the Sanhedrin, is of no force; inasmuch as these same persons, who
originally rejected Jesus of Nazareth, were in great and grievous
error in the fundamental principles of religion, whilst He who was
rejected taught the truth. To do this we must appeal to the oral law,
and discuss its merits. We have shown already that those persons
did not understand at least one half of the law; that their doctrines
were in the highest degree uncharitable. It has, however, been
replied, that the Talmud is more tolerant than the New Testament, for
it allows “that the pious of the nations of the world may be saved;”
whereas the latter asserts that “whosoever believeth not shall be
damned.” We must, therefore, inquire into the extent of toleration
and charity contained in that Talmudic sentence. The first step in this
inquiry, is to ascertain who are the persons intended in the
expression “The pious of the nations of the world.” The oral law tells
us, as quoted in No. 6, that the Israelites are commanded to compel
all that come into the world to receive the seven commandments of
the sons of Noah, and adds,
‫והמקבל אותם הוא הנקרא גר תושב בכל מקום ׃‬